RBS to pay out £125m over computer glitch

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has put aside £125m to pay compensation to customers affected by the recent breakdown in its computer systems.

Account holders at RBS and its NatWest and Ulster Bank subsidiaries faced disruption for up to two weeks in June after a software upgrade at the bank.

RBS released the compensation figure as it reported a half-year loss of £1.5bn, compared with £794m a year earlier.

The bank's revenues for the six months to 30 June fell 8% to £13.2bn.

During the half-year, RBS was hit by an accounting charge of £3bn after it had to change the valuation of its debt.

RBS chief executive Stephen Hester told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is a pretty tough external environment, but I think we are making good progress."

We have continued to make the bank safer and stronger as we clean up problems of the past”

RBS also said it had set aside a further £135m to cover compensation for customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance, taking the total up to £1.3bn.

In addition, it will pay out up to £50m to cover claims from small businesses who were mis-sold specialist insurance, known as interest rate swaps.

The bank is 82% owned by the government, which needed to bail it out in 2008 and 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

It announced in May that it had repaid the last of the £163bn in emergency loans it received from the UK and US governments.

Mr Hester added in a statement: "We have continued to make the bank safer and stronger as we clean up problems of the past.

"And despite the tougher economy, these results show our ongoing businesses to be more resilient than before, with many further improvements underway."